You Are My Remedy
by Ajerzaaddict
Summary: She was the reason why he could see light once again.
1. Chapter 1

This is going to be a fic with a simple storyline consists of 6 short chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima dose.

* * *

The first battle between Fairy Tail and Tartarus turned out to be a tie. Both sides decided to retreat to their bases so as to allow their injured members to recover and to take the time to prepare for the next and hopefully the final battle.

Only for Fairy Tail, the problem was that their guild building had been blown away. But luckily, the basement built deep down in the ground was relatively unaffected by the explosion. However, the space was limited and the ruins on the ground had made get in and out difficult. Therefore, Master Makarov had decided that only those who could still move freely should stay in the basement. For those injured members, Fairy Tail had conveniently borrowed the Kadia Cathedral as their temporary infirmary to accommodate them.

Erza had just gone to see her comrades who were resting in the house of the Priest located at the back of the Cathedral. But she had another reason to come to the Cathedral today. With her arms crossed and eyes closed, she was sitting on the last row of the benches at the right side of the central aisle in the nave, which was close to the grand door, patiently waiting.

Not long, she heard the sound of door opening and opened her eyes. Turning her head around, she saw the two people for whom she had been waiting entering the Cathedral. So she stood up and moved to the aisle.

Without blinking for once, Erza watched tensely as Jellal being brought towards her by Meredy at a steady pace until they were only 2 steps away from where she stood. But she neither extended her hand nor spoke a word to them to welcome their arrival. She was simply standing there and staring at the blood-stained bandages covering Jellal's damaged eyes.

Her lack of reaction, however, was by no means that she was indifferent to what had happened to Jellal. Her frowning blow was a clear sign of her being worried about his eyes' conditions, and her teeth biting her bottom lip was in fact her attempt to stop the tears from spilling out from her eyes at the thought of the possibility of him staying blind forever. While her balling fits indicated that she was trying to suppress her anger over his reckless strategy which had cost his eyesight from exploding.

These mixed emotions had put Erza in such a dilemma of whether to hold Jellal in her arms to comfort him, to bury her face against his chest to cry her eyes out or to reprimand him for not taking care of himself. And it frustrated her that not even her own self knew what she wanted to do.

Noticing that the unresponsive redhead seemed to be troubled by their presence or more precisely by Jellal's condition, Meredy decided to take the initiative to break the ice between them.

"Erza – "

"I'm sorry for making you worry, Erza."

Jellal interrupted whatever Meredy was going to say, his lips curved into a bitter smile. He couldn't see Erza's facial expression or read her body language. However, the facts the she remained silent and hadn't come close to him after his arrival at the Cathedral were enough evidences for him to figure out that she wasn't content about what he did to his eyes. He felt the need to say sorry to her for his decision even though he crushed his eyes with a good reason in his opinion because he shouldn't hurt her anymore in any way, but apparently he just did by hurting himself.

Erza sighed quietly. There was no way she could burden Jellal more with her criticism or sadness over his self-caused blindness when he sounded guilty for worrying her; even though she knew deep down that he didn't really feel regret for what he did. Besides, simply hearing his gentle voice had, strangely enough, soothed those swirling emotions inside her.

Taking in a deep breath, Erza gathered herself up.

"How I feel is not what matters now. You're here to be cured, Jellal, and I'll lead you to see Porlyusica now. Meredy, I'm sorry, would you please wait here? Porlyusica is a private person that she doesn't feel comfortable with too many people in her room."

"Sure, no problem." Meredy smiled understandingly, before releasing her grip on Jellal's right arm and stepping sideward to let Erza took her place at Jellal's right side.

"Thank you." Jellal muttered when Erza took his hand in hers to lead his steps. Feeling the softness of her palm and the delicacy of her fingers through the contact of their hands, he was so tempted to intertwine his fingers with hers. But knowing that it would be something a bit too intimate for them to do, he settled for holding back her hand firmly.

"Don't mention it." Erza's heart jumped when Jellal suddenly held back her hand. She knew that he might only squeeze her hand because he felt nervous about the outcome of his meeting with Porlyusica. However, she couldn't help blushing lightly at how tightly his large hand and long fingers wrapped around her small hand because it made her feel being needed, wanted and desired by him.

And the shade of red on Erza's face only deepened when she noticed that Jellal and herself were actually walking down the central aisle in the Cathedral towards the altar hand-in-hand. It made her felt like being a bride in a wedding procession; only that she didn't want Jellal to be the one who escorted her because he should be the one who waited for her in front of the altar. For a millisecond, she was actually glad that Jellal couldn't see her flushed face.

When Erza and Jellal turned right at the end of the aisle and disappeared behind a door, Meredy, who had all the way watched them holding hands and walking at a pace slower than required like they were taking a romantic walk at a promenade, shook her head with a defeated sigh.

"These two…just confess to each other and make out already!"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima dose.

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As demanded by Porlyusica, Erza waited outside the room while the healer carrying out medical examination on Jellal's eyes.

Erza leaned her back on the wall in opposite of the room and crossed her arms in front of her chest, tapping her foot occasionally. Her patience gradually worn out and her nerves intensified bit by bit as minutes ticked away but the door of Porlyusica's room stayed closed that the chance of Jellal's eyes being cured remained unknown to her. She started pacing back and forth at the corridor instead, hoping that it would make time pass faster. It was when she passed by the room the twenty-seventh time that its door was finally opened, revealing the pink-haired healer.

"Porlyusica…"

"His eyes can be cured."

Erza's face immediately lighted up when she heard the good news. She could feel the burden of worry, which fell on her heart since the news of Jellal becoming blind reached her, was now melting away, and a smile naturally formed on her lips.

"That's great! Thank you fo-"

"Don't be happy too early. I haven't finished what I needed to say." Porlyusica flashed a stern glance at Erza. "Listen, I need a specific magic plant for the healing formula to work. The problem is that the plant grows in winter only which means the chance of finding it now is close to zero. "

"That means he needs to wait for few more months to get his eyes cured?" Erza furrowed her brow, the glow of joy which appeared on her face just seconds ago now started to die down. "But the final battle with Tartarus could start any time…"

Knowing Jellal's determination in eradicating dark magic, Erza doubted that he would accept staying behind when the war against Tartarus resumed even he couldn't see. She knew that even though he was blind now, he would still be one of the strongest mages in the country giving how powerful his magic was. However, there was also no denying that his newly formed handicap would put him in a rather disadvantageous position in a fight.

"I know time is not on our side. So I will try a substitute for the plant. But there's a 20% chance that the effectiveness of the formula would be affected by replacing the plant with other substitute, and as a result his eyesight may not recover fully and he will need another round of treatment to cure his eyes thoroughly when the plant is available for use. There's also a 3% chance that the damage of his eyes would become irreversible due to the side effect resulted from using a substitute. I've asked him if he was willing to take the risks, and he agreed."

"I see." Erza whispered; the expression on her face remained serious after hearing the alternate solution provided by Porlyusica. Things never went easy for Jellal; she felt really uneasy at such thought.

"Don't look like he's giving up his life by agreeing with my suggestion."

"I-I didn't mean that!" Erza hurriedly denied, waving her hands in the air frantically. "I'm grateful that he gets the chance to be cured and I'm just a little bit worried. I'm sorry if I looked…um, unhappy about the treatment he's going to receive from you."

"Your worry won't help the situation. You should know that he's in fact a lucky man to know you and has you by his side at this time, or there'll be no way for me to even find the substitute to use."

"Huh?" Erza looked at Porlyusica with a puzzled look. "Do I…possess the substitute?"

"The tears from your right eye." Porlyusica gazed at Erza, a rare tenderness flashed in her eyes for a second. "That plant was one of the ingredients I used to make your artificial eye work. So your tears should contain the plant's essence which is required in the formula."

Instinctively, Erza raised her hand to touch her right eye.

"My tears…are the substitute?" Erza hesitantly asked the rosette for reaffirmation on what she had heard and received a firm nod from her as the answer.

The idea was quite surreal in Erza's opinion. It sounded like the kind of Fairy Tale in which a true love's kiss could magically save the Princess in coma. Only now in her case, the kiss was replaced by tears and the unconscious Princess became a blind mage. She couldn't help wondering what Jellal's reaction was to this piece of information. "Did Jellal look…..concerned about using my tears as substitute?"

"He didn't know what the substitute is. I didn't tell him because he only needed to consider whether he was willing to take the risks with the using of the substitute. I didn't think he would make a better judgment on his situation with the knowledge that the substitute was your tears. After all, he's human, and human tends to make stupid decision when someone they love is involved."

Needless to say, Erza blushed at Porlyusica's last comment. She had opened her mouth trying to clarify her relationship with Jellal, but the elderly lady held up a hand to stop her.

"Now, if you don't have more questions about the treatment and don't find contributing your tears to help him be a problem for you, then stop bothering me but start preparing your tears. I need quite a lot, and we can't waste more of our time."

Erza stared blankly at Porlyusica for several seconds, until she finally dropped the whole unspoken explanation on she was _not_ the one whom Jellal loved in her head and took in Porlyusica's order.

"Understood." Putting her trust in Porlyusica and brushing away her worry on that 3% chance of ruining the chance Jellal had to see light again when using her tears as substitute, Erza replied Porlyusica with a confident smile on her lips. "No matter how much tears you need from me, I'll give it to you."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima dose.

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30 ml of liquid sounded like a very small amount. But Erza found that it was in fact easier to say than do to cry such amount of tears every day for consecutive 7 days for Porlyusica to cure Jellal's eyes.

She firstly tried to make her tears fall naturally by reading some touching novels or listening to some sad songs. Unluckily for her, the outcome was not very satisfactory. It took too much time for her emotions to build up to the point where she felt like crying through reading but there was not enough time for her to develop the feelings to cry when every song lasted for only several minutes.

But something as simple as a children story about a lost puppy going to find its' family would easily make she break in tears when she was little, she remembered. And needless to say, it seemed that she could cry endless tears during her time in the Tower of Heaven due to all the tortures she received. She started to cry much less after joining Fairy Tail and even she cried, she would do it in private. She didn't see the need to cry anymore after she had accepted Fairy Tail as her new family and become a S-class mage because the guild was always full of laughter and the mighty Titania was too strong and too pound to shed tears.

She had definitely changed from a little girl who was so willing to express her sadness and fear through crying, to a woman who refused to let tears to taint the amour protecting her fragile heart.

Not that there was no exception, Erza knew very well. Her tears would still fall for those she loved even it made her feel weak. Those like her comrades. And Jellal. In fact, thinking about her past, the blue-haired man was probably the only person who could make her cry a river without even trying. However, she didn't feel like recalling those occasions when he cruelly hurt her to make her tears fall. She had forgave him and looked pass those heart-breaking experiences she had with him in order to move on. She shouldn't cry for those irreversible tragedies happened in their past anymore.

Erza finally resolved to force her tears out with the help of onion and smoke. They were really effective in helping her in archiving her goal, for her tears were uncontrollably spilling out from her eyes like two waterfalls when she was chopping a dozen of onions or when she subjected her eyes to the smoke arising from the burning leaves. However, these methods were also quite painful to use. Her eyes arched and got all red and itchy from the stimulations. They were also swollen from crying too much. She could only clean her eyes with warm water and massage them with wet hot cloth to ease the uncomfortable feelings and to reduce the puffiness because she couldn't apply any medicine to her eyes to ensure that her tears was pure as substitute for treating Jellal's eyes.

But Erza wouldn't spit a single word of complain for the pain she felt from her eyes. It was really nothing compared to many sufferings she had endured either physically or mentally in her life in the past. And it was totally worth this little pain if her tears could bring back Jellal's eyesight successfully in her view. She only feared that the treatment would fail because her tears didn't work and Jellal would stay blind in his remaining life. Or that the treatment would be interrupted if Tartarus recovered faster than they expected them to and attacked them suddenly.

To get rid of those pessimistic thoughts from her head, Erza kept herself busy. She cried enough tears for the treatment every morning. She then trained with her comrades. In the afternoon, she would usually had meetings with other guilds to discuss strategies to fight Tartarus. And she always reserved the evening to go to see Jellal after the treatment for his eyes had been done for the day.

They would have dinner together.

"If it's just a simple bento, I can eat by myself. There's no need for you to feed me."

Although Jellal couldn't see, he tried his best to stay independent and refused to be served by Erza. Erza got that Jellal didn't want to be a burden for her, so she would only help him when he asked.

And they would share information on how to defeat their enemy.

"I think it's a good tactic and Crime Sorcière can get the preparations done quickly."

Erza would honestly tell Jellal the results of their investigation on the demons when he asked and listened to his explanation on what his guild was going to do. She understood that he would not stop carrying on the mission of his guild even in his current status as a patient because the mission was also his purpose of living.

And they would take a short walk at the backyard with Erza holding Jellal's hand in hers to lead the way.

"How do you feel about your eyes today?"

They would quietly enjoy each other's company under the still peaceful night sky for a while, before the silence was broken by either Erza asking Jellal about his eyes or Jellal asking Erza about her day. They would always give the same answer to the other's question, which was "fine".

And Erza would let Jellal take his rest and took her leave after the walk.

"Thanks for coming today, Erza."

The warm smile plastered on Jellal's face when he thanked her never failed to make Erza's heart flutter. While exchanging their goodbyes for the day, Erza would selfishly allow herself to stare at him to memorize the expression on his handsome face and let her face brush as much as it needed, knowing that he couldn't see her reactions.

Erza really wouldn't mind continuing this routine of spending time with the man she loved every day if it weren't for the facts that Jellal was blind and the final battle was coming.

So on her way back to Fairy Tail after meeting Jellal for the seventh night which was also the last night visit she would pay to him as the treatment had completed, she could only wish that after the bandages covering his eyes were removed tomorrow, he could see the world once again and that they could defeat Tartarus together.

It shouldn't matter whether they could stay by each other's side or not, as long as both of them were health and save, she reminded herself.

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A/N: I tried to figure out how much tears would be considered a lot yet still reasonable for Erza to cry. But not much helpful information I could find on the internet. So I just went with what I thought was convincing. Please don't be too serious about the amount I set.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima dose.

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Sitting on a chair, Jellal nervously balled his hands into fists; the sound of his breathing was slightly louder than it usual was. Standing in front of him was Porlyusica, who was now in the process of removing the bandages covering his eyes.

In the last 7 days, Jellal had gotten used to the routine of the treatment which started with unwinding the bandages from his head, followed by checking on his eyes' conditions, medication and various magic treatments, finished with hiding his eyes again by wrapping fresh bandages around his head to ensure that they wouldn't get further injury. His healer was far from being an outspoken person, which Erza had already informed him, and he seldom raised queries about the treatment or his eyes, that the healing process was usually undergoing in silence. His reticence, however, wasn't implying that he didn't care whether he could get back his eyesight or not. It was just that having lived a life that had been twisted in so many unexpected ways over the years, he had learnt to do his best as much as possible to achieve his goal while not holding high expectations on the outcome at the same time.

Nonetheless, when it came to the time to reveal whether his eyes had recovered after the 7-day treatment, he couldn't help feeling a bit anxious about the result.

Jellal's unusual reactions, despite subtle, didn't go unnoticed by Porlyusica. But she hadn't said a word to comfort him, simply focusing on what she was currently doing.

Before the treatment, Porlyusica had already met Jellal once at the end of the dragon war when he safely brought the injured Titania back to Fairy Tail. She remembered them acting completely like they were merely friends in front of her when Erza's wounds were being treated, yet the yearning displayed on their face whenever they gazed at each other told her that they should be more than just friends.

And the way Erza blushed lightly while mentioning Jellal being the reason for the demon to torture her when she was asked what had caused all those abnormal cuts and bruise on her body, just added one more hint on the closeness between those two.

In addition to his ambiguous relationship with Erza, Porlyusica was also aware of some similarities between the blue-haired man and his counterpart from Edolas. Both were quiet and calm, seemed to like keeping things within themselves. Both were also evidently strong, which was easy to tell from their figures and also from their magic aura. Even the tenseness of their shoulders gave the same impression that they were bearing certain burden which was so heavy that they could be crashed by it anytime.

Mystogan acted like he was unconcerned with others by isolating himself. But if you ever got a chance to look deep in his eyes, you would then meet with tender and caring gaze which proved that he actually cared a lot for the people around him and the world. Jellal seemed to be the same kind of person who had little interest in interacting with others, and Porlyusica wondered if she would find the same gaze from his eyes by looking straight into them, should the treatment successfully bring his eyesight back.

When the last inch of the bandage had been removed, Jellal could already feel the light which had been absent from his world for some times dancing on his eyelids. His heartbeat raced from excitement, yet he dared not assume that his eyes had recovered 100% and open them for testing without Porlyusica's instructions.

He heard Porlyusica murmuring some magic words which he believed was the last healing spell she was going to cast on his eyes. She stopped after around 30 seconds.

"You can now slowly open your eyes, Fernandes."

Jellal took a deep breath. His eyelids fluttered before they finally opened, revealing his olive green irises hidden behind.

"Can you see me clearly?" Porlyusica asked.

Jellal faced Porlyusica, fixing his eyes on her face. After several seconds, he nodded firmly with a heartfelt smile gracing his lips.

"Yes."

The healer then had another detailed check on her patient's eyes, followed by asking him to look at things of different sizes and colors and from different distances.

"Everything is just as clear as they used to be." Jellal confirmed after all the examinations was done.

"Your eyes were perfectly healed. I don't expect any side-effect to appear but in case you do feel anything strange about your eyes, you must come back to me immediately for check-up."

"I understand. Thank you very much, Porlyusica, I owe you a big one."

Porlyusica looked into Jellal's eyes. She was positive that she had seen the same gaze from an identical yet different man before.

"Then pay me back by defeating the demons without giving me another trouble." She replied while packing up her medical kit. "Erza is waiting outside. I'll let her in to see you."

Jellal said his thank you once again and watched the elder lady walking to the door. But she turned around to look at him again before opening the door.

"You owe Erza an even bigger one. She was the reason why you can regain your eyesight that quickly. Do something to thank her properly."

Before Jellal could ask her for more details, Porlyusica exited the room.

She met Erza at the corridor and told her the good news, which immediately gained her more "thank you" from the redhead. But she kept her straight face as always and simply instructed the young woman to go to see her friend in the room. Erza respectfully bowed to her and said her "thank you" for one last time before knocking on the door of the room. She turned around to leave but looked back when hearing the door being opened, and was just in time to see Erza entering the room.

_That man better not make Erza cry for him again but to do something to satisfy the girl's want for her unconditional giving._ Porlyusica thought, and then shook her head annoyingly. She was only a healer who treated problems of the physical body. When did she become that officious and have this kind of leisure to care about how a relationship was going to progress between two human beings who hadn't admitted their feelings for each other?

But then again, she always had a liking towards Erza since the day she started healing her right eye. She was such a strong girl but with a kind and gentle heart, being all caring and considerate for the others even when she was having hard times in her life. So if Jellal was truly the one with whom Erza wished to be, she would wish her luck. He should be able to walk by her side as her partner and protector considering that he did share certain good qualities from his Edolas' twin.

Averting her gaze from the door of Jellal's room, Porlyusica started walking towards the front door, the corner of her lips curved up slightly without her knowing.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima dose.

* * *

_What?_

Watching Porlyusica leaving the room and shutting the door without further explanation given on what Erza had done to help with the treatment for his eyes, Jellal was totally dumbfounded.

Never once did Erza mention that she was a key player in curing his eyes when she came to see him. Why would she need to keep it a secret from him? What had she done exactly? Jellal recalled all the details about the treatment Porlyusica had explained to him, trying to figure out the answers.

He then remembered that Porlyusica had told him about the magic plant which was supposed to be used in the healing formula but was not available in this time of the year. She said that he was very lucky because she could actually get a certain substitute for the plant. Otherwise, he would have stayed blind for another several months until she could obtain the plant to treat him. That was a case, however, given that he could survive the battle against Tartarus without his sight to receive the treatment in the future, he knew.

He never asked what that substitute was although it was essential for the treatment to work because he didn't think such knowledge would make any difference to his chance of recovery. Now he thought about it, maybe that substitute was another plant? Could Erza help Porlyusica to collect it and that was what made him owe Erza a big one? Was this why she only showed up at night, because she was busy with the collection in the daytime? Was this task a risky one to do? Did she get hurt in the process? She sounded fine and normal when she was by his side, but could it be only her pretense?

Jellal frowned pensively as those questions concerning Erza's well-being raced pass his mind.

But several knocks on the door had successfully stopped him from drowning deeper into his groundless assumptions on what could have happened to Erza. Turning his focus back to the reality, he stood up and walked to the door.

A head of familiar scarlet hair was what Jellal first noticed at the moment he opened the door.

"Hi." Erza greeted Jellal, smiled delightedly at him while suppressing the urge to hold him in her arms to express her happiness over the recovery of his eyes.

"Hi, come in." Jellal replied Erza with a gentle smile and closed the door after she had stepped inside the room

"Porlyusica told me that your eyes have fully recovered." Erza turned around to face Jellal who was standing behind her. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Jellal said sincerely. "I owe Porlyusica a big one."

They then naturally walked to the chairs they usually sat on in their previous night meetings.

Having sat down face to face, Jellal gazed at Erza more intently, finding himself unable to look away from her. No word could express how grateful he was in this moment for the chance to see Erza's face again in his life and for the first time, he felt that it was in fact not a very wise decision to crash his eyes to win a fight. He then glanced at Erza up and down cautiously, looking for any hint of injury or abnormity as his mind was consumed again by the thoughts of her doing something risky to help him to regain his eyesight. He didn't think he had found any, except that her eyes seemed to look smaller than usual due to the puffiness around them. _Maybe she didn't get enough sleep recently because she was too busy with the preparation for the war and also with taking care of me?_ He thought.

"Is there something on my face?" Erza asked; her face slightly reddened from the embarrassment caused by the way Jellal's eyes scanned her from top to bottom.

"No. No." Jellal coughed and averted his gaze from Erza finally, feeling embarrassed also for being caught searching Erza's face and body with his newly healed eyes for too long. "I just…"

He just wanted to find out what she had done to help him and if she was fine. Seeing that the answers wouldn't be revealed by observing her outlook, he guessed there was no better way than to ask her directly to find them out.

"Porlyusica just told me that you were the reason why my eyes got effectively cured. I have no idea on what you had done because she hadn't explained it to me but…..thank you very much for helping me again, Erza. I think I can never thank you enough for all the favors you did me."

It surprised Erza that Porlyusica had told Jellal that she was involved in the curing process of his eyes, even the rosette only did it after the completion of the treatment and without giving the details. The healer was the one who decided to not tell Jellal about her involvement in the beginning and she had decided to keep it a secret as well because she saw no need to make Jellal feel owing her another favor. Nonetheless, she couldn't deny that it was heartwarming to hear him saying thank you to her with so much…_affection _in his voice.

"That's really not necessary, Jellal." Erza smiled timidly. "I'm more than willing to help you whenever you need me."

"Aha." Jellal couldn't help blushing a little at what Erza said to him. Her support to him was unconditional, and she was truly his savior no matter what kind of mess he got himself into. "But still, thanks a lot, really. I am also sorry for troubling you again. I only hope that what you did to help me wasn't something had risked your own safety and health."

"It was not, don't worry. Porlyusica wouldn't ask me to do something dangerous or harmful to my life." Although she was telling the truth, Erza inwardly shivered recalling the pain her eyes suffered from the attack from the onion and smoke.

"So would you mind telling me what did you do exactly to help curing my eyes?"

"Ah…I…" Erza guessed it was unavoidable that Jellal would want to find out how she helped him. Although she hadn't planned to tell him at first, she thought she couldn't hide it from him anymore. It would only make him worry about her more if she avoided answering him. "I gave me tears as substitute for that plant which could not be found in this season."

"Oh." This answer was totally unexpected by Jellal. He looked at Erza with a perplexed stare. "How come?"

Erza then explained everything to Jellal.

* * *

On the guest review by Miere: I mistakenly posted another oneshot under Chapter 5 before and thanks to Miere's review I've corrected the mistake and posted the real Chapter 5. (2014/06/28)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima dose.

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When Erza talked about her artificial right eye and explained why the tears from it could be used for curing his blind eyes, it certainly brought back painful memories to Jellal on how she lost her real eye. He couldn't resist glancing at her right eye, only to find that she had hid it under her bands while giving him her explanation. And now he realized also why she had puffy eyes. She must have cried a lot in order to produce enough tears for his use.

She cried for him, again.

Jellal knew that he should just be relieved to know that all Erza needed to do to help him to regain his eyesight was only crying because it was something pretty risk-free for her to do. However, he couldn't help feeling bitter about it. Undoubtedly, he didn't intentionally make Erza cry for him. And even he knew the substitute was her tears in the first place, not that it would make him capable of rejecting her help because no way she would allow him to delay the curing process in view of the approaching war. It was like fate had decided to tease him for his inability to prevent Erza's tears from falling for him again by making Erza's tears the remedy for his blindness.

But then again, who else other than himself he could blame for such predicament? After all, he was the one who crashed his own eyes.

"I'm really sorry, Erza, for being this terrible constant trouble maker in your life." Jellal said with a smile that was a little bit sad. He then remembered that he had also given his apology to Erza when he sensed her worries for him on the day they met in the Cathedral. But she hadn't given him a reply on whether she accepted or rejected it. "I probably don't deserve your forgiveness for my recklessness. But please just know that I'm willing to do everything to repay you for your help and kindness, even just a little bit, since I don't know if I could ever compensate you enough for what you did for me."

Erza sighed. This was it. This was why she didn't want him to find out everything about her crying tears to cure his eyes.

"Why can't you see it, Jellal?" Erza asked, sounding a bit too frustrated and desperate for her liking. She reached out her right hand to hold Jellal's left hand tightly just like how she did to guild his walk when he was blind. Although he had regained his eyesight now, his heart was still too blind to see the truth about their relationship.

"I didn't help you to make you my debtor and thus earn the right to order you to do whatever I ask you to. Yes, I was angry that you were always so willingly to put yourself in danger which made me worry about you. But I could never stay mad with you for long, you know? I knew too well that behind all your seemingly foolish actions, there actually lied good reasons for you to carry them out. You also only risked your own good for the good of others. It made me can't even bring myself to make you promise me to never lay your own safety on the line in your fight because it sounded selfish to force you to put my feelings before those who needed your help, and sometimes I hated this. So when you needed me, I was only glad that I could be there for you and be helpful. You really owe me nothing. It was just that I couldn't stand simply watching and doing nothing when you got hurt and needed my help because I lov-"

"Erza."

Erza looked at Jellal, her left eye slightly widened as he abruptly stopped her from finishing her sentence. But as soon as she realized that she had just tried to declare her love for him, she lowered her head and covered her month with her free hand.

"Oh."

It was not her intention to confess to Jellal at this moment. She was just too consumed by her emotions that she accidently let the words slip out her mouth.

"I understand." Jellal said softly, trying to make Erza feel at ease seeing how anxious she suddenly became.

He stood up and took a step towards Erza, placing his right hand behind Erza's head to pull her closer to him. She hesitated to follow his hand's guidance at first but soon gave up resisting and obediently rested her forehead on his abdomen; her hand covering her month a moment ago now came up to hang around his waist.

"What do you understand?" Erza asked in a whispering voice.

"Your feelings and the reasons you kept saving me." Jellal answered firmly and then after a moment of pause, letting out a mocking chuckle directed at himself. "Also I am stupid. I can't really think of a way which allows me to do what I'm doing now until my goal is achieved while at the same time, wouldn't make you feel angry, worry about me or cry for me."

He could feel her hand placed at his back clutched at his cloths.

"But failing to give you the peace you need shouldn't mean that I can't do something else for you other than saying sorry to you. You did much, _much_ more than just giving your tears to cure my blind eyes. You remedied my broken life and wounded soul by pulling me out from the darkness and guiding me back to the right path with your kind heart and gentle soul. Just like why you couldn't see me fall without giving me a hand and never thought of the reward for what you do, I can't allow myself to take what you gave for granted without returning you the favor because of the feelings I have for you."

Their hands held tighter. There were these three words, which they were both so desperate to tell each other but couldn't, lingered so heavily in the air that it almost made them feel suffocated.

"So give me the chance to pay you back, Erza, if not now than maybe sometime in the future. Would you?"

"Pay me back in the future, huh?" Erza murmured while raising her head to look at Jellal with narrowed eye, taking his suggestion into consideration. But her thought was interrupted when his right hand moved from the back of her head to her forehand, gently brushing away her bands covering her right eye. Her heartbeat speeded up as he gazed so tenderly and lovingly into her eyes.

"Yes, as long as you are willing to give me such chance."

_How about you being my man when everything is over then? _Erza asked inwardly and her face seemed to heat up immediately for having such shameless request to come up in her mind. She therefore lowered her head again to hide her blushing. "I'll think about it. I know it's meaningless to ask you to stay away from dangers, so just don't die before I give you a chance to repay me."

Being satisfied with Erza's answer to his plead, Jellal smiled a relieved smile and leaned down to plant a kiss on the top of Erza's head.

"Never give up the chance of living, this much I can promise you, because you are always on my mind reminding me that I must live on no matter what happens."

To say that Erza was the light which guided his path or made him see was truly an understatement, Jellal thought. She was the life force which kept him alive.

They stayed silent, relishing in the rare moment of sweetness they had together for several minutes more, before finally letting go each other, knowing that there was still a battle they needed to prepare themselves for.

"It's time to go." Erza said after freeing herself from Jellal's hold. "Actually Meredy has come too. She's waiting for you in the Cathedral."

Jellal nodded with a smile on his lips hearing that Meredy was here and picked up his belongings quickly, then followed Erza to leave the room. When Erza held his hand to lead the way from the house to the Cathedral, treating him just like he still couldn't see the road himself, he intertwined his fingers with hers. Erza turned to look at him with a slightly surprised expression on her face, but said nothing and didn't retreat her hand from his grip. They only released their hold on the other's hand before entering the Cathedral to meet Meredy.

"Jellal!" The pinkette shouted excitedly when the man appeared in the Cathedral, then ran to him and wrap her hands around his waist. She looked up at him and noticed that he gazed back at her. She grinned happily. "So your eyes have been healed completely, right?"

"Yes. All thanks to Porlyusica's and Erza's effort."

Meredy turned to look at Erza who was standing beside her and Jellal, smirking and enjoying the heartwarming brother-sister like reunion played by the two founding members of Crime Sorcière.

"Erza, thank you for introducing Porlyusica to Jellal and for taking care of him while I was not around."

"It's my pleasure, Meredy."

Jellal loosened his arms wrapped around Meredy's shoulders and turned to face Erza.

"I guess it's really time for us go now, Erza."

"I think so. But let's keep in touch as we should work together to fight Tartarus."

"Sure. Take care yourself in the meantime, Erza."

"I'll. You and Meredy too."

"Don't worry, Erza, I'll make sure that Jellal won't do something stupid and reckless again."

"That would be great." Erza giggled.

Jellal simply rolled his eyes but didn't argue back.

"So, goodbye, Erza. But I hope to see you again soon."

"Bye, Jellal, and Meredy too. I also look forward to seeing you again."

"Bye, Erza! See you later!"

After watching Jellal and Meredy leaving the Cathedral, Erza went back to the house to see her comrades who were still resting due to their injuries.

Despite facing the same enemy, she and Jellal had to return to their own path as they had different duties and responsibilities to take. But she had faith that they would meet again, both safe and sound, when the battle was over. It was because there was still unfinished business between them waiting to be sorted out by them together in the future.

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A/N: Thank you for reading! Every follow, favorite and review from you is also very much appreciated!


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